The fiancée of Faster Pussycat frontman Taime Downe, has died at sea after falling overboard from a cruise ship. Kimberly Burch, 56, reportedly fell from a room balcony on the first night of the 80s Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas on March 2, after an alleged heated argument with the 60-year-old rocker.
A Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson told the Daily Mail, saying, ” Our crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort, is working with local authorities, and we are providing support and assistance to the guest’s family during this difficult time. To respect the privacy of our guest’s family, we have no additional details to share.”
Killed Herself or was Murdered
Realtor Kimberly had embarked on the seven-day cruise to support her fiancé, Taime Downe, who was performing with his punk band. The voyage set sail from Miami, with planned stops in Nassau, San Juan, and Labadee.
Burch had been in a relationship with Downe for nearly six years. Her body has not yet been recovered. Just hours before the tragic incident, she shared a photo with Downe aboard the ship, captioning it: “We made it to @the80scruise.”
Kimberly’s mother, Carnell Burch, told TMZ that Downe had called her on Monday to inform her of Kimberly’s death. She said that it remains unclear whether her daughter intentionally jumped or accidentally fell from the cruise ship but expressed confidence that Kimberly would never deliberately harm herself.
Carnell said that Kimberly had been drinking during the trip, which she found unusual for her. She also claimed that her daughter had an argument with Taime before the incident.
She also said that Kimberly was not dealing with depression or emotional struggles at the time. Instead, she had been excited about the cruise, which had just begun and featured performances from artists like Squeeze, Adam Ant, Tiffany, and Men at Work.
X
Killed or Committed Suicide?
Reports indicate that Kimberly went overboard around 11 p.m. EST on the first night of the voyage, approximately 80 miles from Miami. A guest on X alleged that she had “jumped from the balcony of her 8th-floor room.”
They wrote: “Currently on the #RCL Explorer of the Seas for the #80scruise. Unfortunately, we have a ‘woman overboard’ situation and boats have been deployed. We are currently 80+ miles from Miami at 11pm PST. Not good.
“It looks like the woman “jumped” from the balcony of her 8th floor room after an argument with her partner. This is our 15th cruise, and the first time we’ve actually experienced this.
“Clearly, the priority is recovering the woman. And the boat has turned around and is at a dead stop. They have deployed boats for the search. Could be a long night….”
A passenger also told THR: “There was an announcement over the PA saying someone went overboard so the ship was going to stop and turn around to try and locate the person.
“[The] ship was stopped for a few hours. Safety boats were deployed with floodlights to illuminate the surrounding area. Another cruise ship nearby had its floodlights on searching as well. My wife spoke with some people on one of the decks saying they heard that it was a woman and it was caught on camera. Can’t confirm though.
“Eventually the ship powered up and off we went. This morning, a PA announcement said that the US Coast Guard had taken over the search. We arrived at Nassau, Bahamas a few hours behind schedule. No excursions were canceled. Haven’t heard anything since.”
